Thousands of government and industrial leaders are currently gathering at the Singapore International Water Week conference to focus on the urgent need for industrialized and developing countries to solve worldwide water scarcity challenges. It’s with these critical issues on tap that GE and the National University of Singapore officially launched the $100 million NUS-GE Singapore Water Technology Center.
Ideas are flowing: Located on the National University of Singapore campus, the center will initially house 30 GE scientists and engineers working closely with NUS researchers.
The new center will develop and test technology in areas such as desalination, water reuse, the generation of ultra-pure water for the semiconductor industry, chemical analysis of water and wastewater, and power generation.
Energy and water are both facing the same challenges: demand outstripping sustainable supply. An estimated six to 20 percent of an average city’s energy demand is used to produce, treat and transport water, while 15 percent of freshwater worldwide is used for industrial purposes. But as the industrial sector grows, so will demand for power and water.
Turning on the taps: Among those touring the new facility at the launch were, from left: Gee Paw Tan, Chairman of the Public Utilities Board of Singapore, Dr. Tony Tan, Chairman of the National Research Foundation of Singapore, and Heiner Markhoff, CEO and president of GE Water.
Singapore, which once relied on its neighbor Malaysia for treated water, became an early champion for greater water supply independence through the installation of industrial and municipal water treatment and recycling systems. Today, the country meets more than 60 percent of its water needs from local water catchment, water reclamation and seawater desalination.
“Power and water are interdependent; water is needed to produce energy and energy is needed for water treatment,” said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO of GE Water. “At GE, we have developed advanced technologies that can treat any source water, or wastewater for that matter, to the quality required for power generation and many other industrial purposes.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia also has water news flowing today, with GE Water, a business unit of GE Energy, opening the GE Saudi Water & Process Technology Center in Dammam. The nearly $10 million facility incorporates a blending plant for water treatment chemicals and offers advanced water, water reuse, wastewater and process solutions to local and regional customers. It is the second GE Water facility in the Gulf, following a recently opened manufacturing facility and office complex in Dubai, UAE. The new center is a joint venture between GE and Al Tamimi Group, a leading Saudi Arabian engineering and construction firm with which GE has had a relationship since 1957.
GE’s expanding Middle East partnership: At the opening of the GE Saudi Technology Water Center, from left, were: Glen Messina, CEO of the Chemicals & Monitoring Solutions business for GE Water and Tariq Ali Al Tamimi, President, Tamimi Group.
* Read today’s Singapore announcement
* Read the university’s coverage of the event
* Download the speech delivered at the Singapore launch by the NUS president
* Download the speech given by GE’s Heiner Markhoff in Singapore
* Learn more about the new Singapore research center
* Learn more about the Saudi Arabia facility
